Imagine Stationery Studio

in Your School

A Note from the Author

For children to write well, they need to write often. And to write often, they need to be motivated. Writing must be meaningful and satisfying. As an educator and software designer, I have observed and researched the role of technology in this process. Clearly, technology can motivate students. However, technological advances often disregard the realities of the typical classroom where computers are limited and students still do most writing and test-taking by hand.

Stationery Studio is different. It supports writing both at the computer and by hand. How? This innovative program is actually two tools in one – an introductory word processor with all of the basics and none of the confusion, and a tool for customizing stationery for handwritten activities.

With Stationery Studio, students and teachers choose from hundreds of curriculum-themed borders and shapes designed by award-winning author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds. They can also choose a blank page and, if they want, paste in their own photos or graphics. Students can type stories, reports and letters at their computers. Or, they can customize stationery with appropriate writing line styles (primary skip-a-line, basic primary, standard, etc.), line widths, and layouts and then print the stationery for hand-written work. Teachers can use the program to create motivating story starters, activities, handwriting practice, and newsletters.

We are excited that Stationery Studio has been enthusiastically embraced by thousands of educators and students around the country and abroad. They tell us that Stationery Studio’s appealing graphics and easy-to-use tools motivate even the most reluctant writers. We trust it will inspire a flurry of writing and creativity in your school.

Peggy Healy Stearns, Ph.D.

Table of Contents

Classroom ActivitiesLearn about Stationery Studio’s ready-made lesson plans and see how these activities help students develop writing skills as they explore different subjects.

Teacher ToolsFind out how teachers use Stationery Studio to create certificates, diplomas, letters home, worksheets and more.

Student Work SamplesView real student work to see how Stationery Studio inspires and complements student writing.

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Table of Contents

Creative Applications &Technical SpecificationsStationery Studio is compatible with a variety of products, and can be used in a multitude of settings. Take a look!

Testimonials & Awards

Read what some teachers have to say about award-winning Stationery Studio.

Teacher FavoritesGet a glimpse of some of Stationery Studio’s most popular designs and imagine what your own students might write.

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Classroom Activities Welcome to Stationery Studio®!

With its hundreds of borders and shapes, Stationery Studio will surely inspire you and your students to create your own activities and masterpieces. However, you can get started by turning to Stationery Studio’s ready-made lesson plans. Stationery Studio comes with 41 activities, plus 11 more available exclusively through the Fall & Spring Add-On Packs. Designed to encourage creative thinking and build problem-solving skills, these activities explore four core subjects: Language Arts, Science and Health, Social Studies and Math. Looking for a motivating holiday activity? We have those, too! Easy-to-follow instructions allow you to start using the lesson plans right away!

Onthefollowingpagesyouwillfindjustafew examples of activities and real student work. Whether a student is creating a weather report, drawing up a budget or making a book about feelings, these activities get students thinking and writing in no time!

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Flag Day

Goals

• To help students understand the significance of Flag Day

• To encourage honor and respect for

our flag and traditions

• To plan a Flag Day class parade

Overview: Students learn about Flag Day and work together to plan a Flag Day parade for their class or school. Materials

• “Flag Day Parade” template • Print and Internet resources on Flag Day (See Internet reference below.)

Directions

1. Point to Flag Day on the calendar and ask students what they know about this holiday. Why do we celebrate Flag Day? How have students celebrated this holiday in the past? Discuss upcoming community or national events. Refer to http://www.usflag.org/ for background information.

2. Tell students they are going to plan a Flag Day parade for their class or school. Ask if

they ever attended a parade or saw one on television. If not, you may want to show a video clip of a parade. Have students describe what they saw. Then let them brainstorm ideas for their own Flag Day parade.

3. Have students work in groups and use the “Flag Day Parade” template to outline their

plans for a Flag Day parade. Provide print and Internet resources for reference. You may want to provide parameters regarding location, time, and so on, or you may choose to let students dream big and decide later what is practical.

4. Let each group share its parade plan with the class. Encourage students to recognize the

merits of each plan. Then let the class choose the best elements from each to create a final parade plan.

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PARADE PLAN

WHO will march?The veterans will march, and we will march with them.

WHAT will we carry or do?We will carry flags.

WHERE will we march?On Main Street.

WHEN will the parade take place?Saturday afternoon, at 2 oclock.

Other parade plans:My mom is having a bar-b-que.

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Starting Point: Home (234 May Road)Destination: School (40 Leroy Street)Directions: Walk all the way down May Roadto the end and go right. Walk to the stop signand go left onto Leroy Street but first, look bothways. Then walk to the school. It is one mileaway from home.

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Teacher Tools Stationery Studio is more than just a student’s tool – it’s a quick and easy way for you to design certificates,awards,letterstostudents,parents, and caretakers, worksheets, and all kinds of other classroom materials. And Stationery Studio gives you the freedom to print full page, two per page, or four per page for mini-books and notes. The possibilities for creating classroom resources are endless!

The next few pages showcase how some teachers have used Stationery Studio to meet classroom needs. As you can see, whether you are congratulating a student for a job well done, or sending a letter home to announce an event, Stationery Studio has a fun design for every occasion!

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To:From:Date:Time:

Message:

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A B C D EF G H I J KL M N O PQ R S T UV W X Y Z

a b c d e f gh i j k l m no p q r s t uv w x y z

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Student Work Samples

Whether your kindergartners are practicing penmanshiporyourfifthgradersarewritingessay compositions, Stationery Studio can be customized to suit your learning objectives. With changeable line styles and dotted fonts, Stationery Studio is a versatile program that can create printed pages for hand-written work or function as an easy word-processor.

No matter how you decide to use the program, the fun designs and borders motivate students to be creative as they complete their assignments. The following pages feature real student writing samples, including typed and hand-written work.

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Kim K.

If I were an ant, I would live in an ant hill,and I would take care of the baby larvae.I would eat leaves and drink nectar. Iwould spend my day taking care of thelarvae and I would take care of thequeen's eggs. I would be a very very goodant. When I would grow up, I would be aworker ant. I would find food on theground and give it to the queen. I wouldtry not to get squished.

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Teacher Favorites Teachers using Stationery Studio quickly discover their favorite borders and shapes. Walking to school,ridingabus,orfindingfurrymonsterswho are surprisingly friendly. . . any of these shapes and borders might spark the imagination of a student who had previously been intimidated by a blank page. Sometimes students just need a little inspiration to get them writing!

Asyouflipthroughtheseteacherfavorites, envision what these designs might prompt your own students to write about.

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Testimonials and Awards Teachers around the globe recommend award- winning Stationery Studio®. Educators at every grade level send us stories about how the program inspires their students to achieve new levels of excellence in writing. Read on to hear what a few have to say!

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What educators are telling us…

“Teacherswillfindthisisoneofthoserarecomputerprogramsthatactuallymakes their lives a little easier.” —Dennis G. Mike, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Elementary Education and Reading Buffalo State College, NY

“Two thumbs up for Stationery Studio. It is the perfect software resource for every elementary school. Students and teachers alike are dazzled by the incredible templates that help to promote writing across the curriculum.” —Karen Brodski, Technology Specialist, Meramec School, School District of Clayton, Missouri

“Thanks to Stationery Studio, our student authors are publishing every day. Stationery Studio is the spark igniting the imagination of both teachers and students.” —Susan Buys, Director of Technology The Pine School, Stuart, FL

“All my First, Second and Third Graders love it! I have shared it with some of my staff, and they are thrilled. The borders are so motivating for the children to write! You have included excellent features such as: the choice of different lines including the different colors, access to any font on a machine, ability to change font colors and the borders, the margin layout is excellent as well as all the others, ability to print in black and white if toners are scarce, the tracing fonts, the Print Preview and all its options and the Tours are interesting to the adults as well as the children! What a wonderful job all of you have done!” —Gez Ebbert, Technology Specialist Hanscom Primary School,MA

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“Teachers are completely amazed and mesmerized by Stationery Studio.Theprogramissoimaginative,creative,flexibleandeasytouse - it is beyond inspiring. To that say I’m excited about it would be a huge understatement.” —Maribeth Bush, M.S., School Counselor, Lunt School, Falmouth, ME

“Stationery Studio is one of the best new products of the last two years. Universally, my elementary teachers who are using the program rave about it.” —Tom Plati, Apple Distinguished Educator and Director of Libraries and Educational Technologies, Hopedale, MA

“Stationery Studio is one of the most useful and versatile pieces of software I’ve ever seen. I’ve used it in so many curricular areas that I don’t know how I managed without it!” —Charlene Ehll, Multiage Teacher, The Saul Mirowitz Day School-Reform Jewish Academy, St. Louis, MO

Older students i.e. middle schoolers, continually tell us that Stationery Studio helps promote self-expression. The director of an after school program (YMCA) for homeless children consistently uses Stationery Studio because of its educational and therapeutic value.

At the Hillside School, in Mount Laurel- NJ, all the First Graders participate in the annual authors’ night where they showcase their “published” work. Teachers indicate students have become bettereditors–i.e.spellingandcheckingwork.Theyfind Stationery Studio to be extremely motivating.

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Awards

2007, American Library Association Notable Computer Software for Children

“This is one of those programs that you wonder how you ever did without.” —Children’s Software and New Media Revue, November/December 2003

2004, Technology and Learning Award of Excellence for Productivity, Creativity and Communication tools

“If you can only buy one piece of software for your elementary classroom this year, this should be it.” —Power to Learn, October 2003

2004 Media & Methods Awards Portfolio Winner

“Although Stationery Studio is essentially for kids, don’t tell that to adults. Every teacher wanted it…” —School Library Journal, September 2004

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Creative Applications andTechnicalSpecifications We regularly hear from teachers eager to share with us the creative ways in which Stationery Studio is applied in their particular classroom or school. Read on for examples straight from the classroom.

And don’t forget to check out the technical specifications—StationeryStudioisavailablein Universal Binary format. In fact, Stationery Studio is included in Apple’s Elementary Tools bundle!

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Creative ApplicationsAlphaSmart NeosSchools using Neos as a word processor can use Stationery Studio for publishing. This gives students the ability to create exciting finalproductsandisanicerewardforcompletingwrittenwork.Forcollaborative writing, you may have up to four students use Neos and save their work to the same Stationery Studio document. In Lubbock, Texas, approximately 6,000 students in grades 3 - 5 have been equipped with stationery Studio and AlphaSmart’s Neo. According to Lubbock ISD, they chose this combination because it helped the students to truly focus on their writing

After School ProgramsStationery Studio promotes independent writing and learning. TeacherstellusStationeryStudioisaperfectfitfortheirafterschoolprograms, which are generally understaffed, because Stationery Studio promotes independent writing and learning. We have heard from numerous teachers how Stationery Studio has been a perfect fitfortheirafterschoolprogram(generallyunderstaffed)becauseit’s so easy to use and there’s little need for teacher intervention or assistance. One summer school program shared with us how the students made place mats: students chose their favorite Stationery Studio design and added their name and a favorite quote, or a poem theywrote.Tofinishtheproject,eachplacematwaslaminated.

Interactive Whiteboards Many teachers have had great success demonstrating writing techniques using Stationery Studio with an interactive whiteboard. “Since Stationery Studio’s lined paper is identical to the lined paper used in the classroom, it’s a great way for a teacher to model writing.”

Apple iPhotoStudents are creating their own slideshows and movies using Stationery Studio! They simply convert any Stationery Studio document to a PDF and save it in iPhoto. From there, students can create an iPhoto book, slideshow, or movie! These are great for class projects such as student autobiographies or poetry.

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TechnicalSpecifications

Platform Operating Systems

Display Audio

Windows Windows 98, 98 second edition, 2000, Me, XP

A minimum of “High color” at 800x600

16 Bit Sound blaster compatible card

Mac 64 MB memory, Processor speed 400 MHz.Macintosh 8.6, 9.0, 9.1 with CarbonLib 1.4 or 1.5, System X, 10.1, 10.2.8, 10.3.9 and higher

A minimum of “Thousands of colors” at 800x600

Standard audio

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